Pennsylvania Statutes Title 47 P.S. Liquor § 4-437. Prohibitions against the grant of licenses

(a) The board shall refuse to grant any licenses unless the application therefor contains the information required by this act, and the premises meet such reasonable sanitary requirements as the board, by regulation, shall prescribe.

(b) The board shall refuse to grant a license to any club when it appears that the operation of such license would inure to the benefit of individual members, officers, agents or employes of the club, rather than to the benefit of the entire membership of the club.

(c) Licenses shall be granted by the board only to reputable individuals, or to associations, partnerships and corporations whose members or officers and directors are reputable individuals.

(d) No person who holds any public office that involves the duty to enforce any of the penal laws of the United States, this Commonwealth or of any political subdivision of this Commonwealth may have any interest in a manufacturer's, importing distributor's, distributor's or retail dispenser's license. This prohibition applies to anyone with arrest authority, including, but not limited to, United States attorneys, State attorneys general, district attorneys, sheriffs and police officers. This prohibition shall also apply to magisterial district judges, judges or any other individuals who can impose a criminal sentence. This prohibition does not apply to members of the General Assembly, township supervisors, city councilpersons, mayors without arrest authority and any other public official who does not have the ability to arrest or the ability to impose a criminal sentence. This section does not apply if the proposed premises are located outside the jurisdiction of the individual in question.

(e) No distributor's or importing distributor's license shall be issued for any premises in any part of which there is operated any retail license for the sale of liquor or malt or brewed beverages.

(f) No new distributor's or importing distributor's license shall hereafter be granted by the board in any county of the Commonwealth where the combined number of distributor and importing distributor licenses exceeds one license for each thirty thousand inhabitants of the county in which the license is to be issued: Provided, That a combined total of five such licenses may be granted in any county of the Commonwealth.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as denying the right of the board to renew or to transfer existing distributors' or importing distributors' licenses or to exchange a distributor's license for an importing distributor's license or to exchange an importing distributor's license for a distributor's license, upon adjustment of the applicable fee, notwithstanding that the number of such licensed places in the county shall exceed the limitation hereinbefore prescribed: Provided, That no distributor's license or importing distributor's license shall be transferred from one county to another county so long as the quota is filled in the county to which the license is proposed to be transferred.